


Cold pt.5

by NightCityFiction



Series: Cold (River Ward/V) [5]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Light Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:27:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28918326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightCityFiction/pseuds/NightCityFiction
Summary: V goes over to Joss’s to talk to Randy. V has to confront River after he comes home. Will he clam up like always? Or will he spill all to V?
Relationships: Female V/River Ward, V/River Ward
Series: Cold (River Ward/V) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109774
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40





	Cold pt.5

As soon as I pull up to the trailer I’m greeted by Dorian and Monique. I crouched down and gave them both a giant hug. It had been about a year since I saw them last and they had already grown so much.

“Aunt V, where have you been?” Monique asked.

“Yeah you disappeared for a long time.” Dorian said, “Mom and Uncle River wouldn’t tell us where you went.”

“Well I um, went somewhere I could go get better, you see I was really sick.” I said trying to handle it delicately.

“Oh you mean like Randy?” Dorian inquired, his voice sounding kind of confused.

“No not like Randy. It was more like when you feel really sick and you ache all over.” I explained.

They both shrugged their shoulders and went back to playing whatever game they came up with. The door was open to the trailer so I just waltzed in. I looked over to the dining table and there was Randy. He looked a lot better than when I saw him last. Well, any state that he was in would be better than the state he was in at the farm. Joss looked up and beamed at me.

“You must be Aunt V! Holy crap it’s so sick to finally see you in person.” Randy said absolutely jazzed.

“It’s me. It’s really good to see you too, kid.” I said shaking his hand and giving him a hug.

We talked for a long time. We talked about some of the lighthearted things like video games and what rock bands we listen to. We chatted about motorcycles and him asking me if I could teach him how to ride one someday. Joss shot that one down very quickly. We talked about his physical therapy and he showed me the cane he was using to get around, telling me that he worked really hard to be able to walk again. Then we talked about how I found him but, just the very nonspecific details of the clues that lead us there.

“I can’t even begin to understand what you did but it sounds so cool!” Randy exclaimed.

“Yeah BD editing is a really cool skill to have. I learned from a good friend of mine, Judy. I think she’s in Oregon now.” I said, taking a sip of the coffee Joss made for me when she realized I was going to be staying here for a while.

“Your friends sound so cool.”

“Yeah they really are.”

He chuckled then said, “Hey mom said you went with the Aldecados, were you a nomad before?”

“Yeah I uh, was with the Bakkers before they went with Snake Nation.”

“What did you say to them?”

“I said that they could go, you know, screw themselves and then after I came to NC. Life just happened after that.”

“Well are you still going to ride with the Aldecados?”

“I don’t know if I’ll go back or not. My plans are kind of up in the air right now. This city is not what I remember it to be.”

Joss and I both shot knowing looks at each other. I took a long sip of my coffee. I looked at the time and decided it was time to head out.

“I should probably go it’s-” I said, suddenly interrupted.

Joss’s eyes widened, looking utterly shocked. River just came through the open door all bandaged up. There were stitches in his eyebrow and bandages on his knuckles. He was in a white t-shirt and gray sweatpants, probably from the hospital seeing as he decided to go. He carried a black duffle bag, presumably with his ruined clothes in them. His black eye looked not swollen anymore, but just as intense. It was as if time had frozen. He looked at Joss, Joss looked at me, I looked at River, and Randy tried looking at all three of us simultaneously. River then broke the silence by just walking away to his room.

“V um, do you maybe want to stay for dinner? I um...have some soup in the fridge it should uh, be ready in a few. Could you maybe go ask River if he wants anything?” she muttered.

“Sure yeah, I’ll be right back.” I said hesitantly walking down the hallway.

Randy asked Joss what was going on and she told him not to worry about it. I don’t know what was more terrifying, having to confront River or Joss reheating leftover soup, potentially burning the house down. Honestly the latter sounds more favorable right now. I made my way down the hallway, past Dorian and Monique’s room. I knocked on his door and opened it. River was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Hey Joss wanted to know if you wanted some soup for dinner or if you were going to skip it.” I said, stuttering my words.

He just rubbed his face and groaned. He looked empty still.

“Forget it.” I spoke, starting to open the door.

“Val wait,” he said sitting up, “don’t go please.”

I turned around and waited with my arms folded ready for whatever he was going to throw at me. His walls came crashing down all at once. His eye filled with tears and he tried holding them in as best he could. He stood up and walked over to me slowly. Then he just grabbed me, holding me so tightly it felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“I’m so sorry Val.” he whispered, his voice shaking.

I just nodded and wrapped my arms around him, burying my head in his chest, feeling the bandages underneath his shirt. He then brought one of his hands up to run his fingers through my hair. I could feel his breath shaking and then tears falling onto my shoulder.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel so sad and upset,” he sobbed, “please don’t hate me.”

“River I don’t hate you, I would never hate you.” I whispered, gently rubbing his back trying to soothe him, “Just talk to me please. I want to know what’s wrong. I’m worried about you.”

He pulled away and then went to sit down on the bed. I sat right next to him.

“I’m trying to help Joss with Randy’s medical bills but, the cases I’m taking are horrible.” he said, his words sputtering out, “They deal with the worst places and people. The scav case was my latest one and it was someone’s family member who got tortured and killed for an XBD and it was so hard to hear about let alone try to find the guy. I fight tooth and nail to try to bring the victim’s families some solace but it’s so hard V. The cases just take so much out of me and I have to repress the hurt, anger and pain or else I don’t get any work done. Then when I thought you were dead it just added on top of it. I couldn’t feel anything anymore. I was so numb I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was so happy when you came back but it was like I couldn’t reach it. It felt not real and if I looked at you that you would have disintegrated. I thought that something good happening to me just wasn’t feasible.”

I just nodded listening to him. He didn’t look empty anymore. His body was processing the pain all at once.

“When you came back, I didn’t want you to get wrapped up in the mess I got myself in. I didn’t want to lose you because of what I do. Looks like i almost lost you from pushing you out though.” he said chuckling, but it was hollow, “I didn’t want you to see how I was drinking more and not sleeping again.”

“I don’t know what to say River. Just know that I’ll be here for you, always.” I spoke, trying to find my footing in the conversation.

“Are you going to leave Night City again?” He said, now looking at me, seeming like he could shatter at any minute.

“Maybe. The plan was to not leave but, I thought you wanted nothing to do with me so I didn’t know what I was going to do anymore.” I said, bluntly.

“You know I won’t stop you if you want to leave, but I think it would be really fucking cool if you stayed.”

I thought about that for a minute, rolling the marble around in my head. I wanted to stay whole-heartedly. I wanted to wrap him up in my arms and tell him everything would be okay, even though I didn’t know if it would. He then flopped on the bed, his arm covering his face.

“I think I’ll stay.” I said, finally, standing up, “Now come on dinner’s-”

And just like that he was out cold asleep. The emotional release probably made him feel exhausted. I chuckled and then noticed something by his bedside. It was a roughed up picture. When I went to go take a look at it, I realized it was of me before I left. I had found this old camera and had brought it with me when River and I went to have a beer up on the water tower after dinner one day. He took a picture of me at golden hour, catching me off guard, looking out into the distance. We had just talked that day about everything and nothing. I flipped it over and it said “the love of my life” in messy handwriting on the back. I returned the picture to its place. I went over to River, moved his arm, and gently planted a kiss on his cheek.

I walked out, slowly closing the door and went to go have dinner with Joss and the kids, letting him finally rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks guys for so much love! It’s weird to think more people are reading my stuff than people that were in my graduating class in high school. I see every comment and appreciate them and every kudos so much! Thank you so much again for reading and potentially enjoying my stuff <3 There’s going to be one more part and then I’m going to take a break for a but as school is kicking my butt. Don’t worry though I’ll wrap this series up nicely with a bow and maybe revisit this V and River in the future!


End file.
